McMahon and Murphy spar over abortion

By Kate Nocera

10/18/12 05:26 PM EDT

Abortion and access to birth control took center stage in the fourth and final Connecticut Senate debate between former WWE CEO Linda McMahon and Rep. Chris Murphy.

While both candidates said they strongly support abortion rights, Murphy is endorsed by Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America. The Democrat worked to portray McMahon as anti-abortion, saying her election could lead to the nomination of a Supreme Court judge who would help overturn Roe v. Wade.

“I am pro-choice candidate, that has not wavered,” McMahon said. “I am a woman, I have a daughter, I have three granddaughters. I don’t want to take any action that will be harmful for them relative to their health choices.”

But Murphy, who has maintained a healthy edge in polls among women voters in an otherwise tight race, says McMahon’s support of the Blunt Amendment and recent comments she made to an editorial board show her true colors on the issue of contraception.

“You can’t say you’re pro-choice while supporting things like the Blunt Amendment, that would take away from women the ability to purchase contraception,” Murphy charged. “You can’t say that you’re pro-choice but then be open to voting for Supreme Court justices that would overturn the very law that provides access [to abortion].

McMahon told the Hartford Courant editorial board last week that she believes Catholic hospitals should have the choice whether or not to provide emergency contraception for rape victims. Current Connecticut state law requires Catholic hospitals to do so.

“I don’t think that the government should overreach. I mean it’s a separation of church and state in my view, and I think that a religious institution has the right to decide what its policies would be in that, in that case,” she said at the time.

During the debate, McMahon did not address the Courant interview directly but said she supports current Connecticut state law.

Both candidates said they oppose so-called partial-birth abortions, unless the life of the mother is at risk.

McMahon said repeatedly that she would buck her party if she disagreed with it, including on the issue of abortion.

“I will not support my party in repealing any of these laws, I am an independent thinker, she said. "I will vote differently than my party if I believe something different than what the party is putting forward.”